


If the Sun Was A Person

by TryingSoHard



Series: Demigod! Please [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and getting together, Getting Together, M/M, Percy Jackson References, and, camp halfblood au, i said, its a series, no one asked for this, okay like two people asked for this, you know you want it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 21:49:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10885599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TryingSoHard/pseuds/TryingSoHard
Summary: The camp half blood au Idea I SHAMELESSLY stole from tumblr and added to. A saga.Jack Zimmermann, son of Zeus, has son big shoes to fill. His father, King of the Gods and famous for being an asshat, isn't really helping with the image issues.And then there's this asshole.An actual ray of sunshine.How dare he be so shiny.





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: spelling (it was published on mobile, i'm sorry), word choice, chapter title cause it didn't really match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little context, a little background, a little look in Jack's head. Shorter than a normal chapter will be because I decided to post this in the middle of the night and I just wanted to get a start on it.  
> *this is my first published work. I'd love feedback, but please be nice*

Jack has big shoes to fill. His father, Zeus, has a reputation. Jack has to live up to it.

His father, king of the gods.  
His father, ruler of the land and sky.  
His father, slayer of Kronos.

Jack may be only half god, but that's no excuse, he reminds himself as he surges up the lava wall. A boulder falls into the pit at the top, sending a wave of molten rock over the side. Swinging away by one hand, Jack narrowly misses a painful trip to the infirmary. He can smell the lost arm hairs, though. Grasping at the ledge again, he curses, vowing to do an extra hour of sword training after dinner to make up for the mistake. 

He reaches the top, and checks his watch- a gift from one of the kids in Hephaestus' cabin, who had asked for an autograph in return. The camp hadn't seen a son of Zeus for quite some time, which didn't really help with the pressure thing. 

His time for the wall was five seconds slower than the day before. That meant twenty-five extra laps around the arena to compensate.  
He was always compensating.

 

At dinner, he opted out of the strawberry dreamsicle cake the Dionysus kids had made from the harvest this morning. He skipped the duck, dripping with an orange sauce that smelled of honey and apples. He chose a plain piece of fish, a small piece of bread, an apple the size of his fist, and a large handful of nuts. He paused when he noticed a maple glazed pastry of some sort, but headed to his table without it. He didn't bother with the goblet already sitting at his place; chocolate milk wasn't healthy. If he drank that, he'd probably throw up the second he got sent on a quest.

As usual, his table was empty. He gave up hoping that a long lost half sibling would show up a long time ago, and it had been years since Thalia joined Artemis' Hunt. Typically he was accompanied by a few nymphs or satyrs who had known his father, but all they did was talk about Zeus and ask questions that Jack didn't know the answer to. No, he doesn't know how Zeus is doing, no he never mentioned you (it's not like Jack would know if he did, they didn't really talk much), no he doesn't know if Zeus will put you on the list for the next Olympic party. No, he had never been to an Olympic party, he wasn't even alive during the last one in '69. Jack was kind of glad they weren't around tonight. The quiet was nice.

With no company, he could eat in peace, no one would interrupt his plans for after dinner, and he could peacefully zone out while listening to the chatter of the other demigods around him.

Life was good.


	2. L'intérêt de L'amour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bitty's grand entrance into camp (warning: it's kinda graphic, I guess), and the origin of his nickname! Also: All Demeter's kids have plants names, because why not.  
> Edit: more description of camp scenery, typos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited people are actually reading this! This is my first work, that was the first chapter, and I had 27 kudos. I'm flattered, seriously. Now that I know people actually care, I'll try to update at least once a week, and keep spelling errors to a minimum. Thank you! Comments, kudos, and critiques/ideas are greatly appreciated, because this is an exercise for my writing skills!

Eric wasn't really prepared for this whole demigod thing. Like he really wasn't. 

He sprinted for the boundary line like his old coach was still screaming that his laps were too slow. He'd left his bag somewhere miles behind. All Eric had with him was the clothes on his back, the crushed bag of pralines in his pocket, his camera (the bag was strapped to him, it was easier to just keep it than waste time wrestling the faulty buckles), and a blade he'd ripped off an old ice skate. After the bus had flipped over, a whopping three brown harpies had appeared out of nowhere, in addition to the horned, lion-headed chimera that had already been stalking him through most of the east coast. He'd lost them for a couple of hours at the head of the woods, but now he could hear them crashing through the underbrush behind him. 

His legs were screaming, his ankle throbbing, but above the pain he could feel the presence of the pine tree at the top of the hill. It spoke to him, almost like a game of hot or cold. Eric could feel it getting closer, feel the wall of warmth it guarded and reinforced, the safety behind it. He just had to get there before these monsters caught up with him. 

He heard the sound of flapping wings behind him shift, and ducked just as a clawed foot snapped shut where his right eye had previously been. Unfortunately, he hadn't anticipated a coordinated attack- another set of claws tore into his shirt, opening up a gash on his side. He stumbled, lashing out with the makeshift knife; the second harpy shrieked and fell behind. The first harpy had reoriented itself, and the third was preparing for a dive. Eric rolled to the left, taking shelter behind a tree at the last second. The diver tried to follow, and rammed into the trunk, falling to the ground. Above him the chimera screeched, launching itself off a tree branch. There was a horrible cracking noise, and the rustling of leaves as the branch ripped itself from the trunk and plummeted towards the remaining harpy. The damned thing dodged, but it gave Eric time to get to his feet and keep running. 

The squawking and growling behind him suggested that the two remaining monsters were fighting each other, both wanting sole rights over his potentially dead body. Judging by the gurgling shriek and the sound of pursuit, the chimera had won. He reached the base of the hill, and made it about a third of the way up before the wind was knocked out of him. The chimera had vaulted up the hill after him, landing right on top of him and sending them both tumbling back to the bottom. Its snake tail wrapped around his legs, binding them together, and Eric slashed at its face with the blade, taking out an eye. The thing screeched and clawed at his neck. Another slice with the blade- thank god he'd sharpened it before he left- and one leathery paw was opened to the bone. It reared back to strike with the other paw, and he thrust upwards into its chest. He felt the blade hit a rib, and jerked it to the side to get around it. Blood spattered what was left of his clothes, and the chimera shuddered and went limp. Eric heaved it to the side.

Pushing wearily to his feet, he took stock of his injuries. His clothes were torn to hell and back, the gash on his side would probably need stitches, he was pretty sure he sprained an ankle, he'd scraped up his hands pretty bad from all the times he'd hit the ground, and he was pretty dizzy. Bringing a hand up to his head, he felt blood on his temple, and added a possible concussion to the list. There was a strange deflating sound, and he glanced down to see the pelt of the chimera, laying flat on the ground like it had been skinned; a shimmery grey mist was dissipating around it. He leaned down, groaning as his torn side spasmed in protest, and began dragging it up the hill with him by one curling ram's horn. Each step made him more dizzy, and he collapsed at the root of the giant pine when he reached the top. He was so tired. Surely a little ten minute nap wouldn't hurt, right?

He woke up in a cot, inside a large white room with several other beds like his lined up along the walls. His chest, ankle, and hands were wrapped in white gauze. There were a pair of pills and a glass of water on the table next to him. As he touched the glass, the clear liquid turned a honey-brown color, and he smelled tea brewing. Skeptical, he took a tentative sip- it tasted exactly like his Moo Maw's sweet tea, and it was even the perfect temperature, despite how long it must've sat on that table. He swallowed the pills, and warmth flooded his body. Sitting up, he noticed someone on the other side of the tent, wiping blood off the face of a guy with a mustache and a man-bun. The girl cleaning him up looked mostly normal- except for the leather breastplate and goat's legs. Eric knew that this was the new reality he had literally run into, but learning about satyrs in high school and actually seeing one were two very different things. He decided the polite thing to do was not stare.  
"-you always do this, one of these days you're gonna have to learn to clean yourself up afterwards, I don't have the time to be patching you up every night"  
"-it's not my fault he decided to be an asshole! You can't just stereotype people like that and not expect someone to stand up-"  
"-and try to fight someone twice their size? Most people don't expect you to do that, actually, and they never expect to lose. I'm sick of having beds taken up by rude, bitter assholes just because you decided to go vigilante on them, I don't like dealing with them either!"

Eric knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but was it really eavesdropping if they were yelling for everyone in the whole camp to hear? He was content to keep listening and try to find out hat was going on, but he sneezed, interrupting their argument. The satyr turned, happily abandoning the guy she'd been fixing up for a new task.  
"Oh good, you're awake! You know you slept for nineteen hours? You must've run the whole way here! I'm Antigone, by the way."  
"Something like that," he replied while she flitted about checking his bandages, hooves clicking on the floor. She took a careful look at the stitches in his side, nodding to herself and choosing not to replace the bandage.  
"You're healing great, shouldn't even leave much of a scar. A shame, really, scars are badges of honor around here! If you won, that is, but we already know you did." She pointed at a box on the floor. There was no lid, so he could see the chimera pelt folded neatly inside. "These should be ready to come out by tomorrow, if you don't push yourself too much. In the meantime, follow the hallway all the way down and to the left, Chiron wanted to see you."

He hefted the box onto his hip, and Antigone waved him out with a smile. He followed her directions to a rather large wooden door, right in the middle of the wall. He raised his hand to knock, but it creaked open before he could touch it. Inside, a centaur stood behind a giant desk. Eric approached him, and he looked up from the paper he was squinting at.  
"Ah, you must be Eric. Welcome! We have just enough time to show you your cabin before lunch. Now since we don't know who your parent is-"  
"Demeter."  
"-you'll be staying in-...excuse me?"  
"My mother. It's Demeter. I know most people don't usually know, it's complicated." He shuffled his feet, looking towards the window rather than meet the piercing gaze of the grizzled old man. He stroked a slightly wilted zinnia, sitting in a too-small pot on one corner of the desk, and it grew about three inches taller, stretching out its leaves like it had just woken up from a long nap.  
"Yes, well. In that case we can go ahead and introduce you to your siblings. Follow me."

Chiron led the way out of what turned out to be a large house, with blue walls and white trim. They followed a trail past some volleyball courts, where the teams were composed of satyrs with boys, and nymphs and dryads with girls. The girls were winning with a pretty big lead, if the complaints of cleaning duties was anything to go by. An open-air gazebo followed it, and appeared to be a crafting area of sorts. Several large, burly people stood around striking red-hot lumps of metal with giant hammers, sanding furniture, or sawing various materials into different shapes and pieces. Finally they came to a U-shaped group of cabins, with a sort of courtyard in the center. Each one was different, clearly dedicated to a separate god or goddess. He knew which one was Demeter's without being told- it was essentially a greenhouse. The walls were covered in climbing vines of ivy and morning glories, a row of skylights ran down the center of the roof. When the door opened, spilling out a handful of tanned, smiling people that looked eerily similar to him, he saw walls of vertical gardens inside, and a live grass floor.  
Five people, two guys and three girls, converged on him, and Chiron was nowhere to be seen. Two of the girls, who looked like they might be twins, grabbed one of his arms.  
"Hi! We just knew you would be in our cabin, with that hair, but we didn't expect you to be here so soon! Welcome home!"  
"I'm Heather, that's Lilly. I know it's kind of hard to tell since we all look alike, but yes we're twins. It's so nice to meet you!"  
"Don't suffocate him, he might wither the spices like last time! I'm Dahlia. What's your name?"  
Eric blinked, overwhelmed by the rush of energetic clones. His social instincts kicked in, and he silently thanked his Moo-Maw for all the cookouts and family reunions she'd hosted. "Uh- Eric. Eric Bittle. It's nice to meet you too!" The two guys stepped forward, and he suddenly realized that his below-average height made him the shortest one there. The twins both had about two inches on him, Dahlia had at least one and a half, and both the guys- who introduced themselves as Ash and Rowan- were about six and a half feet tall. The difference did not go unnoticed.  
"You're so tiny, how did that happen?" Ash ruffled his hair, and Rowan elbowed him as they all ushered him inside. "You're right, he's just itty-bitty," squealed Lilly, "we should call him that!"

Eric grinned. He wasn't used to people joking about his height in a truly affectionate way. It was nice. "I don't care what you call me, as long as you show me where the food is. I'm starving!"  
"Oh goodness, we're late for lunch! Let's go everybody, I wanna show Bitty what we got the kids in Hephaestus to do to our table!"  
All the girls linked arms, traipsing down the well-worn path in front of the guys, who prodded Bitty for details about how he got to camp.


	3. The Moment You've All Been Waiting For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry :( I know, I said once a week, and it's been two. Life happened, I am so sorry. But I know one of you dear readers personally, and the rest of you can rest assured that she'll make me keep my schedule. Yes it's short, but it's late and I work in the morning so I'm just gonna keep apologizing. Enjoy!

The twins were all too excited to show him the engraved table they had persuaded the entire Hephaestus cabin to complete in the space of a single day. The twisting vines and cornucopias would have looked real if you couldn't see the wood grain beneath the glossy finish. The food was astounding- barbecue so tender it fell apart, but only when it was in your mouth. Fresh fruits just harvested that morning, berries bursting with flavor and color, which you could smell from ten feet away. Roasted potatoes cooked to the perfect level of softness, vegetables so green they almost didn't look real. When he took a sip from his goblet, what had appeared to be water was suddenly stained brown, and tasted exactly like Moo-Maw's sweet iced tea. 

Dahlia showed him the custom of dedicating the best cuts and pieces to the gods, and personally he thought it was a waste of perfectly good brisket, but he silently thanked his mother anyways.

After lunch was considerably more entertaining, and definitely more exhausting. The kids from Dionysus' cabin were too busy to tend the strawberry fields that day, so Bitty and his siblings helped them out. There was a brief intro to sword making class at the workshop Bitty had seen on his way in, which turned out to be the "Arts and Crafts" pavilion. He'd never heard metalworking referred to as arts and crafts, but he supposed it shouldn't surprise him. 

Next came sparring, which was his least favorite part of the day. The sword felt wrong in his hand, and he wasn't sure if it was because it was a sword, because the handle was shaped for a hand much larger than his, or because it was so heavy he could barely move it. Dahlia offered to partner up with him so he wouldn't have to spar with someone a million feet taller than him on his first try. She kicked his ass. The only thing that worked in his favor was a tree root that just so happened to shift upwards when she stepped over it- but she turned her fall into a roll and swept his feet out from under him. The second time around he managed an actual blow, but quickly found himself under her foot again. After about an hour, and the fourteenth time she had knocked the sword from his hand, he didn't bother picking it back up.  
"My arms are numb."  
"The weight is wrong, it's just a practice sword. We'll barter with the Hephaestus kids to make you a real one later."  
"I don't even like swords. They're ridiculous. You know this is the twenty-first century, right?"  
"Yeah yeah yeah, maybe try a different weapon. I bet you're good with a bow and arrow."

 

After dinner, a horn blew. Everyone at the table was suddenly on guard, but they seemed excited. Like they were waiting for something.  
"So, uh. Anybody wanna explain that sudden shift in energy, or?"  
"Capture the flag," said Rowan with a wicked grin. Ash mirrored it, and despite Rowan having more of a tan they looked nearly identical.  
"He's excited because we allied with the guy in Zeus, he's the next best thing to Athena, since they already paired up with Hermes for numbers."  
Lilly gestured behind him, and Bitty turned to see a tall boy with dark hair and a truly unfair amount of muscle mass, who was currently taking a seat at the other end of the table. He was gorgeous, quite frankly, and had the intimidating glare down to a science. 

Before he had time to say anything or even introduce himself, the boy looked him up and down, then took a sip of the cup he'd brought with him and said "you'll need to eat more protein if you ever wanna win any of the games."  
Bitty's ears nearly caught on fire.


	4. The Name of the Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time Bitty plays capture the flag is....interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Another chapter posted in the actual week it was supposed to be. What an accomplishment. As always, comments, critiques, and kudos are greatly appreciated!

The group, rather small, sat around talking strategy. Seeing as how he'd never really played war games before, he couldn't offer much input.  
"Because there's only seven of us, stealth and speed is our strength. If we have Ares guard the flag, which is what they're best at anyways, then we can all split up and come at them from multiple angles-" began Jack before he was interrupted by Heather.  
"But Hermes is the biggest cabin, it'll be tough fighting through that crowd, they have like four people for every one of us, and Hephaestus always has traps lying around-"  
"That's why we're all going different ways. One of us has to make it through, the odds aren't that bad-"  
"Look, man, not everyone has the king of the gods as a father, our mom makes plants grow. How the hell do you think we're gonna fight things like the mechanical warriors from last time-"

After about twenty minutes of bickering back and forth, Jack seemed to have plugged up all the holes that Bitty's siblings were poking in his plan. The flags were positioned on either side of the forest across camp. They would have the Ares cabin- an unlikely ally if there ever was one- would line the territory boundary and cut off the opponents that came for the flag, and another group would surround the flag with their backs to it, and chop anyone who came near it to bits. Meanwhile, Jack and Demeter's cabin would split up and take circuitous routes through the forest, avoiding the advancing enemy troops and scouts, and converge on the opposing team's flag from all sides at once. Because Dahlia was the smallest aside from Bitty, and had been there the longest (thereby being the most experienced), the others would create an opening for her to squeeze in and capture the flag, then surround her as a defensive escort party back to their side. All that was left to do was arm themselves.

"I don't think this fits right," Bitty says as the twins throw him a breastplate that looks like it could be worn by a gorilla. The straps are hopelessly tangled together, and he can't even tell which side goes up. Ash shoves a helmet onto his head, which falls down over his eyes and presses into the bridge of his nose. Dahlia, his savior, shooes them all away. "Alright, alright, that's enough dress-up, everybody go get your own stuff while I deal with this one." Bitty huffed out a sigh of relief as she disentangled him from the mismatched armor he had been practically shoved into- copper shin guards that came up over his knees, a shield that looked like it was made for a child and somehow weighed more than he did, and several other pieces in varying colors and materials- none of which were even remotely the right size or properly put on. She led him further into the warehouse where all the equipment was stored, digging through musty boxes and scaling shelves twice her height as though she did it for a living. From the top of said shelf, she threw down a tangle of leather, smooth and soft to the touch but almost too tough to bend. "That's really all you need for now. Just the basics, the fancy stuff can come later. It's better to learn how to fight before you start throwing in magical items anyways."

She hopped down and pulled all the pieces apart, producing a breastplate and two pairs of guards. From a box on the back wall she pulled a shield that looked like it needed some tlc, but when he examined it more closely he saw that the metal itself was not damaged, only the paint. "That was my favorite shield when I was new. Since it looks so shabby your opponent will get cocky and think they can break it, but most of them will just screw up their blades on it and you won't feel a thing." She couldn't find a helmet for him, but they figured it would probably be fine; Ares was the cabin that mostly went for headshots anyways, and they were on this same side this time.

The horn blew again, resonating throughout the camp. Bitty figured they must be closer to wherever it was stationed- he felt the ground vibrating in time with the sound. "Ten minutes until go time, time to head to our post."  
They made good time through the woods, and met the group with a few minutes to spare. The flag, black with the logos of all three cabins emblazoned on it in white, stood flapping in the breeze from the top of a large boulder. The Ares kids, standing in small groups, looked like they wanted blood, as if the sight of a good arterial spray would make their whole week, and Bitty made a mental note to stay on their good sides. Jack scaled the boulder with little effort, and Bitty couldn't help but admire his calves, literally highlighted by the most neon pair of running shoes he'd ever seen. As Jack called for everyone's attention and began to review the plan, Bitty pondered how they were supposed to be stealthy with a beacon like that. 

Right as Jack finished explaining the plan, the horn blew again, a sustained note that had the whole forest going silent. It called a second time, and the Ares kids began stomping their feet and banging swords against shields. His own cabin and Jack moved to stand in a line, crouched and ready to run. He stood close behind Dahlia, whom he was meant to shadow until he could find his way around the forest alone. The horn sounded for a third and final time, and everything exploded into motion.

The line of runners sprinted into the forest as one, slowly spreading apart until Bitty could only see Dahlia, a few steps in front of him. He had no issue keeping up as he was used to running, and was surprised that he didn't trip on any of the underbrush as they leaped over ditches and dodged trees. They ran unhindered for about five minutes, until Dahlia skidded to a stop behind a pile of rocks. She motioned for him to get down beside her, and they inched around the pile slowly. He heard footsteps on the other side, the rattling of a loose shield strap, but the other person didn't seem to know they were there until they were already sprinting away behind them. He heard a shout of alarm- the person calling out a warning that intruders had breached the perimeter. Dahlia cursed as the air was filled with crackling leaves and twigs. Demigods came at them from three sides, all in front of them. The pair cut to the right, running up the wide trunk of a fallen tree and jumping right over the heads of the closest group, running at an angle now. Rather than heading straight towards the enemy flag, they were now flying through the underbrush in the direction that the twins had gone.  
"We're almost there!" Dahlia called back to him, and she was right. They slid down two more hills, and jumped about ten feet down off a small cliff, then broke through the treeline. Somehow, the rest of their allies managed to arrive at the exact same time, and Bitty marveled at how much practice that had to have taken. There was only two people guarding the flag- a shock that caused his whole team to stop in their tracks. 

Two kids from Hephaestus that looked like they couldn't be more than twelve sat atop the boulder, with what looked like videogame controllers in their hands. Bitty had never seen controllers like these, though- four separate panels, one with a joystick, and the other three with countless buttons in all the colors of the rainbow. They smirked, and Ash cried "Ambush!" as Bitty heard the sound of very large, very heavy things hitting the ground just out of site from where he stood in the clearing, one of which was directly behind him.


	5. And That's How It's Played

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bitty's first win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. Wow. We broke 100 kudos, and we're almost to 1k hits. I am honored. Thank you guys so much for reading! I'm about to go on vacation and i'm not sure when the next time I'll be able to write is, but I'll do my best to have a new chapter by next friday. Comments, critiques, and kudos are appreciated!

WHUD.

"That's probably not a good sound," Bitty whispered to himself. The smirks of the children on the boulder grew into gap-toothed grins, and his spine got a weird tingly feeling. He turned, slowly, and peered through the trees. Two red lights bobbed and weaved, as whatever they belonged to made its way towards the clearing. The rustling of leaves and snapping of branches could be heard from all sides, and he guessed that there were probably seven of them. Hence the need for such elaborate controllers; each kid had four beasts to control. 

He backed away from the edge of the trees, afraid to look away long enough to check on Jack and his siblings. The forest went quiet again, and then an enormous mechanical ape burst through the trees. It had red lights for eyes, paneled armor that was painted to match the forest canopy, and teeth the length of his chef's knife. All together, it was roughly the size of a small truck. It stalked toward him at an angle, and he realized that all of the machines were moving together. They were tightening the circle, shifting around and around until there was no escape.  
"We need to get the flag," shouted Jack, "there's gotta be a way through, but we need the flag first. We can't fight them all off!"  
Bitty took stock of the situation. Jack, Ash, and Rowan were on the other side of the boulder, he couldn't see them. Dahlia was to his right, Lilly to his left, Heather on her other side. He looked up, and there was the flag, waving in the air like absolute madness wasn't happening below. If he jumped, he'd still be too short, but if he had a little help...  
"Lilly, Heather, I need a boost!" They glanced over at him, then up at the flag, and seemed to follow a similar train of thought. They rushed over to stand on either side of him, hooking their hands together for him to step up into them. They pushed up cheerleading-style, and he almost fell backwards, hands scrabbling on the face of the rock to keep his balance. He found purchase, and scaled the remaining distance with relative ease. The two kids on top looked up from their controllers with expressions of extreme annoyance, offended that he actually made it to the top. "Look out below!" He called, and they went tumbling over the sides. They each pressed a button, and one of the mechanical apes caught them, depositing them safely on the ground.  
He wouldn't have just tossed them off if he hadn't guessed they had some sort of fail safe, but he had to admit it felt good.

The flag pole wouldn't move. He pulled on it with everything he had in him, and it didn't even budge. Bitty may have panicked just a smidge.  
"The flag! Not the pole, the flag!" Ash yelled. Bitty looked up, and saw that the flag was indeed tied to the pole. He pulled on the strings that held it, and it came off in his hands. From below, there came the sound of metal crashing against metal; the apes must have finally attacked. "Go, we'll catch up!" From the top of the boulder, he could see everything. There was one ape to every one of his party...and one missing. There had been seven originally, but now he only counted six. He searched the ground below him, then the trees. Sure enough, up in a branch the seventh monstrosity held the two kids with the controllers, safely out of the way. That was good for them, but for Bitty it meant there was a gap. He watched the battle below, and sure enough the twins were fighting back-to-back, leaving two open spaces, one of which was in the exact direction he needed to go. 

Bitty vaulted off the rock, clutching the flag to him as he rolled with the impact. He was on his feet again and sprinting into the trees by the time the kids realized he'd left the boulder. The sound of cracking wood filled the air, and Bitty was pretty sure all the apes had left their respective fights in order to pursue him, and broken a tree in the process. He wished that he was lucky enough for the tree to fall on them, but thought with frustration that it would never happen.  
From behind him, there came the sound of a tree crashing to the ground. There was also the noise of crunching metal. 

Bitty knew better than to look back, he just kept running. He leapt over the trunks of fallen trees, ducked under low-hanging branches, bobbed and swerved to avoid rocky terrain. He typically would have been worried that he was going the wrong way, but he could clearly see the path that he and Dahlia had taken to get there. The footprints, nothing more than traces of dirt on a rock and patches of slightly flattened grass, stood out to him almost like beacons. He followed them, faster this time. Every few hundred feet, a niggling voice in the back of his head pointed out a better path to take, a more stable place to put his foot, a stray trap, and he listened.  
He could hear Ash grunting with effort behind him, the angry metallic screech of apes that didn't like being interrupted.

There was more clanging, and from this he deduced that his party was fighting the apes. He nearly slipped on a patch of leaves as he crested a small hill, slapping his hand against the nearest tree trunk for balance. Vines hanging from the tree came to life, twining themselves around one of the hostile machines. 

He dodged another tree trunk, and saw it. A line on the forest floor, not quite visible with the naked eye, but glowing and shifting in a way entirely its own. He pushed himself even harder. Two groups of enemy demigods came racing out of the woods on either side of him, and he threw himself to the ground, sliding under their grasping hands and waving shields. He rolled and bumped to a stop, clutching the flag close to his chest. There was a moment of quiet, and then an explosion of cheering. 

He cracked an eye open to see kids from the opposite side slumping against trees and to the ground, exhaustion catching up to them. People from Aries, plus Jack and all of Bitty's siblings, converged on him, pulling him to his feet and lifting him up onto the boulder. He held up the captured flag, now green with a shimmering gold symbol of Demeter, and the cheers grew louder.


	6. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The latest thing you've been waiting for, our dearest friends from the comic HAVE. ARRIVED. Y'ALL.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight, I should've just posted a hiatus notice. Sorry guys :( to make up for it imma reward y'all's patience with some sick flow, a kegster, magical tub juice, and the beloved 4 am practice.

The camp had already had dinner, but it seems that one of the traditions of capture the flag was also a raging party. This was hosted in the woods behind the cabins, lit by glowing moss and lightning bugs. Music filled the air from a speaker sitting on a table, the first truly modern thing Bitty had seen since his arrival, aside from his camera. Below the table on which the speaker sat, was a 55 gallon drum with the words "Tub Juice" spray painted on it in various colors. He wasn't sure what the term meant, but from the look of the fluorescent orange liquid in people's cups, it had to be something special.

He was welcomed by a crowd as soon as Heather dragged him in, who all yelled and raised their cups towards him. He recognized the guy from the infirmary as he approached with two others, man bun replaced by shoulder-length hair swept back from his face, and mustache firmly in place. The other two could not have looked more different. One represented each end of the spectrum, blonde hair and blue eyes, versus dark hair and skin. All three were far taller than him, which Bitty noticed was a trend no matter where he went.  
"There he is! The star of the show," exclaimed one, "have we got a good time for you. Come with us!" One guy grabbed each arm and began pulling him after the first, who lead the way through the crowd.  
"Make way, people, fresh meat comin' through! My name's Shitty, by the way, yes it's a nickname, don't ask what for."  
"Adam Birkholtz," added the blonde one on his left, "call me Holster. That's Ransom."  
"Nice to meet you," Bitty said reflexively. "Where are we going?"  
"This party is as much of a tradition as capture the flag is. They've been going on since the first game, and one thing that has not changed is that any frog who does something that huge automatically gets the first pour."  
"Frog? Pour of what?"  
"Yeah, frog! Cause they tend to croak under pressure? Y'know? Eh, you'll get it later."  
"The first pour of tub juice," provided the guy on his right, "specialty drink, just for these parties. It's totally 'swawesome, just wait."  
They reached the table with the drum under it, and Ransom and Holster let go of Bitty to heft the drum up onto it. Shitty turned to the crowd of people, milling around with their cups of glowing-whatever, and Bitty realized that if he was getting the first pour, that wasn't the tub juice. "What is that in their cups, if it's not tub juice?" he asked, somewhat concerned about the answer.  
"Glow punch, must be orange flavored this time. Tastes a lot like soda," supplied Holster, just as Shitty called to the masses, "Attention, demigods! We have- THE JUICE."

The crowd, which looked to be everyone in the camp over the age of seventeen, cheered and stomped their feet. A cup was lifted into the air, then held under the spout at the bottom of the drum. The tub juice looked worse than the glow punch did. This stuff was green, like toxic waste green, and was so thick it almost looked like a smoothie. Bitty decided he'd rather not know what was in it. They filled the cup to the top- "Oh man, a full cup? You're brutal, dude, he's new"- and passed it over. There was a buzz of anticipation in the air, and everyone was watching him, waiting. Bitty decided it was best to just go for it, and chugged the whole cup in one go. Shitty, Ransom, and Holster's jaws all hit the ground, and the crowd went wild.  
"Dude. You're gonna regret that later," Ransom informed him, laughing and slapping him on the back.  
"Yeah but that was 'swawesome!" Holster yelled, filling his own empty cup halfway.

Bitty somehow ended up with the twins, hotly debating with some girls from Aphrodite. They were all beautiful, and some smiled and batted eyelashes at him, but he drifted away again when he heard "eyeliner." Next he found Ash and Rowan, trying to flirt with a pair of nymphs to convince them to bring aquatic plants up from the bottom of the lake. The nymphs appeared to be laughing at them, but agreed to do it anyways. Finally he found Dahlia, off to the side. They stood together, people-watching, as the tub juice hit him. His head felt like it had detached from his body, and floated off into the clouds.   
"Oh man, what was in that juice?"  
"Do you really wanna know?" she raised an eyebrow.  
"Probably not. I don't think I can walk right now, though." She laughed, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.   
"Alright, Mr. Bigshot, that's enough for tonight, let's get you back to the cabin."

 

*********

 

Two days later, Bitty was woken up by a knock at the cabin door. His bed, one of eight that were positioned randomly throughout the cabin, was the closest to the door. He groaned as he rolled out from under the blanket, feet hitting the grass floor harder than necessary. He got the niggling sense that the grass was offended, and he made a mental note to water it later. He pushed himself to something resembling a standing position, body aching from yesterday's weapons training. He had done a circuit with all his siblings, training on every weapon known to man, and a few more obscure ones. He had decided that his best plan was to just not get himself into situations where he needed a weapon.   
He answered the door, still rubbing sleep from his eyes, to find Jack standing on the front porch.   
"Great, you're up, get ready and let's go," he said, far too awake for anyone to be at- Bitty checked his watch- four in the goddamn morning.  
"What are you talking about. Why are you awake. Why am I awake, for that matter." Bitty mumbled, yawning.  
"Practice. Let's go."

As it turned out, Jack was completely serious. Bitty took his time getting dressed, even made coffee, and Jack was still waiting outside the door. Bitty followed him, dragging his feet and nursing his coffee, and by the time they got to the arena Bitty still hadn't figured out how Jack could be like this at four in the morning. He finished his coffee and threw away the cup, somewhat awake enough for conversation. "Alright. Why did you wake me up at 4 am and drag me to the arena."  
"Because our cabins have a standing alliance, and we have to work together. You're fast, but that's about it. What if you get cornered? That's not gonna end very well if you can't fight."  
"Wow, you must give great pep talks," Bitty replied sarcastically. Part of him was miffed that Jack had basically called him defenseless, but the other part knew he was right. "Now what?"   
"Now we practice." 

Jack handed him a sword from the armory, saying the same thing that Dahlia had said about needing his own sword. Their sparring went much the way it had when Bitty had sparred with Dahlia. Jack predictably kicked his ass, but also told him what he had done wrong and how to fix it. He showed him how to block with his sword, how to hold it without giving yourself wrist problems later on, and how to roll without cutting yourself to bits. This became a routine for them, every morning Jack would show up entirely too early, usually bringing coffee with him so he didn't have to wait for Bitty to make any. They went over new things every day, paired with things they'd already reviewed.  
After a week, Bitty could parry three attacks in a row before Jack was able to surprise him.  
After a month bitty could hold his own against everyone in his cabin long enough to get out of sword range and switch to a bow and arrow, which had quickly become his favorite.

As Jack and Bitty walked to breakfast together, they chatted about Jack's favorite techniques until the smell of pancakes hit them. Bitty was starving, he thought his feet might lift off the ground and he would float the rest of the distance to the food. "Oh my goodness, that smells heavenly," he sighed, already planning what he would put on them.  
"Hm. Usually they don't have pancakes twice in one week. I wonder what the occasion is?" Jack mused.  
"I don't care, I just wanna eat them!" Bitty replied. Jack laughed, and they debated which fruits tasted better on buttermilk pancakes. "Hey why do you always have that bottle with you? Why don't you ever drink what's in the cups?"   
"The cups start out with water, right? But if you want anything else they turn into that?" Bitty nodded for him to go on. "Chocolate milk isn't exactly the healthiest thing on the planet, so I bring protein shakes instead."  
Bitty gaped. Not only at the fact that Jack Zimmermann pretty much constantly craved chocolate milk, according to the magical cups, but that he flat out refused to ever drink it.   
"Okay, no. You are drinking that chocolate milk. I'm confiscating your protein shake, you can have it back tomorrow."  
"I don't think so," Jack laughed.  
"Oh no no. I'm serious. I see you glancing longingly at the desserts at dinner, you are going to enjoy yourself for one meal, so help me gods, if I have to sabotage every game of capture the flag we have from here on out-"  
"Oh that's low, Bits."  
"Hand over the protein shake and no one gets hurt."


	7. 'Twas a Show of Respect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing everyone's favorite artist! And the beginning of the pie addiction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned, with gifts! Again, sorry my update schedule sucks, but I'm not gonna forget about you guys, okay? Thank you so much for the positive feedback, please keep it up!  
> Edit: typos

Bitty had discovered the kitchens. They were staffed with sprites and other small, helpful entities, along with an army of enchanted utensils. Off in the corner, however, there was a somewhat beat-up, modern looking oven that he'd heard Hephaestus' cabin had just finished repairing. Supposedly some of the sprites had gotten frustrated with the mortal technology and smashed it up a while back, and the kids took it as a challenge. Despite its newly repaired (and improved, naturally) state, even the utensils refused to go near it out of spite. This left Bitty with a perfect little workstation all to himself. He started small and simple: strawberry rhubarb pies, basic preserves. Then once he got the hang of his equipment he branched out- quiches made with herbs he'd never heard of and eggs from the weird-looking chickens in the barn. Jams and jellies with berries that didn't quite look real. Eventually, though, he always returned to Moo-Maw's original recipes. 

He was in the middle of a batch of plain chocolate chip cookies, requested by the counselor in Ares in exchange for their alliance again, when the kitchen door was pushed open. All the sprites and utensils halted simultaneously to see who the intruder was, then resumed their work just as fast. A spoon approached Bitty, waiting for him to taste the contents. They must've been preparing something new. "Needs more salt and oregano," he told it, and turned to see the visitor as it flew back to its pot. It tasted like pea soup, with lemon.

The doorway was empty. Until he looked down. The girl wasn't that much shorter than him, only a couple of inches, but he was so used to looking up at all of the freakishly tall demigods that he always looked above eye-level. She had close-cropped black hair, and splatters of paint all down her front. "Are you baking cookies?" she asked.  
"Yes, would you like one? They're still a little hot, but-"  
She reached out and picked one up off the tray, the first batch that he had just pulled out of the oven. He heard the sizzle of cool skin touching hot metal, but the girl didn't react. When she pulled her hand back, half-melted cookie in her grasp, it didn't even look like she'd been burned.  
"Are you okay? You need to run cold water over that before it-"  
"Don't worry about it. I'm Lardo, by the way. Is this a family recipe?"  
"My grandmother's." He peered at her, skeptical. He hadn't seen her yet, in any activities or on the sparring field. She hadn't been in a game, or introduced as a new camper at dinner.  
"You're new, aren't you?"  
"Yes, I just got here last week. Are you?"  
"No, I'm just visiting." She didn't offer any other explanation, just started asking him about his time at camp, what he'd made in the kitchen so far, if he'd ever used random and off-the-wall ingredients. He enjoyed the conversation, and invited her to walk with him to deliver the finished cookies.

They made it halfway across camp before they were loudly interrupted. "Lardo!" shouted Shitty, who burst out of the infirmary tent and came sprinting across the grass towards them. Bitty stepped to the side to avoid dropping the container of cookies, and Lardo was swept up into a hug, spinning in circles. Bitty was surprised Shitty hadn't fallen or just knocked them both over. From inside the infirmary, he could hear Antigone yelling about stitches, and noticed a nasty-looking gash on Shitty's arm.  
"Shits, put me down before your personal nurse kills me. What did you do this time?"  
"Oh man I had no idea you were gonna be back so soon, why didn't you tell me? Oh, this? Some idiot faun got mad that two of the nymphs preferred each other's company and started throwing around some nasty slurs so of course I had to challenge him-"  
"Do you plan to take on the entire world's equality problems? Because It sounds like you wanna take on the entire world. Last guy that tried that got some really bad neck and shoulder pains, let me tell you, and-"

They looked like they had a lot to catch up on, so Bitty bowed out in favor of delivering his cookies. He almost didn't make it to the cabin door because so many of the Ares kids were outside and saw him coming, each begging for "just one, he won't even know it's missing!"

Later that day, when he was sparring with the twins- they were taking turns practicing against more than one opponent at a time, and Bitty was losing- they filled him in. "She's one of the muses. A painter, mostly, but sometimes she sculpts, too. She made a couple of the statues in the pavilion," Heather told him.  
"She hangs around a lot with Jack, Shitty, Holster, and Ransom," Lilly added, "bit of an odd group, if you ask me, reminds me of the stereotypical college frat boys. Only on the outside though- they're loud, but they're not stupid."  
They heard shouts, and saw the group in question pushing each other off a cliff and into the water on the other side of the lake.

Later on, Bitty spotted Lardo getting a piggyback ride from Jack as he ran the agility course. Then she was debating with Shitty about some godly politics, and what to do with a particularly annoying messenger god that had begun flirting with her excessively. Then as he passed Holster's cabin he heard her inside with Ransom and Holster, yelling at a television that, after a quick glance, appeared to be displaying a hockey game. She seemed more human than he would've thought a muse would be, but if she visited here as much as people said then he shouldn't be surprised. 

Bitty had one more delivery to make that day, to Jack. He'd mentioned during an early-morning workout that he was a fan of maple apple pies, with sugared crusts. Bitty had made a batch of miniatures, and resolved himself to sneak one onto Jack's plate at dinner. He was successful, and Jack raised a knowing eyebrow at Bitty. Bitty sat back down like he didn't even notice Jack eyeing him. He felt an immense sense of pride when Jack actually ate some, even though he sacrificed over half of it.


	8. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys are now a team for real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I'm so surprised that I have not yet read a negative comment about this work. Especially since the boys weren't really as present in this as I'd planned (for which this chapter shall be a remedy), it's my first work, and I never update when I say I will (I'm sorry). Thank you so much for you guys' encouragement! On a more relevant note, I'm thinking I'll wrap this up here in the next couple chapters, and cap it off at 10. Just a short little get-together fic, y'know? Since the actual comic continued (is continuing, y'all seen these updates? My heart can't handle it) far past the get-together, I might add another Zimmerbits piece to the series I'm planning, but probably not until after I get some other ships in there. Let me know what you think!

They'd lost the last game, which meant they had to rethink their strategy. Jack, Demeter, and Aries' cabins debated long and hard, and finally decided enough was enough- no more cabin-wide alliances. It was about the members, now. Jack was, of course, still in charge, but now he had his right hand involved. Shitty had suggested a refined, streamlined team. Smaller, but more accustomed to working together with each individual's strengths and shortcomings. Thus, it boiled down to: Jack, Shitty, Ransom, Holster, a new kid in Hephaestus named Dex, a highly deceptive son of Aphrodite that everyone called Nursey, an excitable kid from Aries who went by the affectionate nickname Chowder, and...Bitty. Bitty hadn't been quite sure what persuaded Jack to bring him onto the team, but at the first practice- surrounded by people practically twice his size- he realized he was probably-  
"Bittle, you're the runner."  
Bingo.

It took them the whole week, training together nearly constantly, but somehow by Friday night the group worked like a well-oiled machine. Jack and Shitty had worked out a near foolproof plan. Guarding the flag would be Chowder, which Bitty had questioned until he watched the kid sparring. Face-to-face he was hyper, sweet, and unnaturally friendly for someone in Aries; sword-to-sword he nearly beheaded his opponents in the heat of the moment. Bitty had initially thought he should stay on Chowder's good side, but quickly realized he had nothing to worry about, as the boy had taken a shine to him after a particularly good batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Dex, Nursey, Ransom, and Holster would stake out a perimeter, with Dex's latest inventions on guard and the rest of the defensive team behind them to plug any holes. Shitty, Jack, and Bitty would run for the flag from different directions. Jack from the left, Shitty from the right, and Bitty would circle around and come up from behind while the enemy was distracted. Once the flag was captured, whoever had the flag would pass it as need be, and the empty-handed two would fend off attackers.

When the night came, you could feel the anticipation in the air. It hung over their heads, they breathed it in with the balmy night air. The forest was almost too quiet, as if even the birds were waiting. When the sound of the cannon echoed through the trees, there was a moment's pause, and then they were off. The three runners started together and ran for about a quarter of a mile before they began to split. Jack and Bitty headed further into the darkness of the canopy while Shitty headed towards the lights of the camp. Dodging trees and leaping over thorny underbrush like he'd done it his whole life, Bitty quickly left Jack behind. He heard shouts as Jack broke the perimeter of the opposing team, and recognized his siblings' shouts. They'd ended up in another cabin-based alliance with Hermes, and all had agreed to remember it was just a game, and no hard feelings would be had over who won or lost- Bitty sensed that they had made this agreement out of pity, thinking he would be on the losing side. He let them think whatever they wished, wrong though they were. He knew that on the other side of the forest, Shitty was causing a similar disturbance and the pair broke through the perimeter. Bitty was halfway to his point of entry when he noticed that Jack had stopped running in order to fight off the swarm of attackers. Worry gripped his insides and squeezed, but he assured himself that jack knew what he was doing, and it was just a game. It was all part of the plan.

He slowed his pace as he neared the spot. He could see the rocky hill on which the flag stood, waving despite a lack of breeze in the small clearing. What was left of a tight circle stood around it, bickering among themselves over whether or not they should leave their posts to join the fight. After all, standing there was just so boring, and there was no one around anyways! Bitty smirked. He'd been successful so far, they had no idea he was there. He crouched behind a tree, and waited. After three more people left, he'd have a clear pathway to run right through, all he had to do was grab the flag and sprint for Jack and Shitty. Two people...one person...

A twig snapped behind him. He turned to see what had caused it, fearing he'd been discovered, but a dagger appeared across his throat. "Don't move," came a quiet, menacing voice. He decided his best tactic right now was compliance. They hadn't alerted the rest of the team yet, probably to look like a hero when they brought the captive back single-handedly. Bitty took stock of the situation.  
Then he shot his elbow back into their diaphragm, turned his head to the side and slipped under the dagger, and spun to face them. Drawing the sword from its sheath across his back, he dropped into a defensive stance and readied for retaliation. The guy, who Bitty thought he recognized from Aries, glared at him and lunged. Bitty stepped to the side and let the guy run into the tree behind him, parried away the slash of his sword, and knocked him over the head with his pommel. The guy was out like a light, and Bitty felt the adrenaline of the moment racing through his veins. The guard from the flag would have heard the noise- he was out of time.

Bitty turned and ran for it, sprinting out of the trees and up the side of the hill, snatching the flag off the pole and sliding down the other side of the hill before the to remaining members of the guard had time to draw their swords. They weren't far behind him, though, so he pushed himself faster. At the other side of the clearing, two groups of enemy defenders blocked Jack and Shitty from reaching the now-empty base. As he ran between the two, Jack and Shitty turned away from their attackers and followed him, with half the enemy team behind that. Fortunately, they had planned for this. While they only had three people, running in a triangle formation with the flag at the head and two guards on the flanks, the opposing team was tripping over itself and the underbrush trying to reach them all at once. They passed the flag a couple of times when they had to avoid the enemy scouts throughout the trees, but they made good time. As they crossed the halfway point, Bitty heard their defensive squad alerting each other to their arrival, surging forward to form a protective bubble around them. 

A zoo's worth of mechanical beasts met the pursuing team head-on, steel centaurs fighting with the front lines while mechanical dragons attacked with claws from above. Bitty ducked between Ransom and Holster and sprinted to the boulder where their own flag hung. Another opposing camper appeared in front of him, and he tossed the flag to Jack. A girl from Hermes mounted the boulder with a look of triumph, reaching for the flag, but it was too late. Jack scaled the other side and lifted the captured flag, watching as the colors changed from black and red to blue, Zeus' golden thunderbolt magically stitching itself into the fabric. The look of pride on his face filled Bitty with his own sense of pride, for an amazing team with a perfectly suited captain.  
Around him, the sounds of clashing swords and shields halted, and gave way to the sound of cheering.


End file.
